Ghyll:Carsokian

Pardon the mess as I gather my sloppy notes on the various portions of the wide-ranging Carsokian Clan/Families. --Doctor Phineas Crank 17:49, 19 Sep 2004 (EDT) Not Done Yet! So just hold your water!

Carsokian Clan

A brief introduction...

Clan History

Oh, I have my work cut out for me here!

Territory and Influence

The various families that make up the Carsokian Clans are spread far and wide. The majority of their influence is in the Andelphracian River Valley, but they have representatives as far as the Evesque Valley and the Sarfelogian Mountains. Indeed, there are those who have speculated that they are purposely marrying off their daughters to particularly wealthy buffoons who are easily manipulated simply to expand their reach into heretofore unreachable spheres of influence.

They also have notable enclaves in the Vale of Serdoch, Alezan and the Baleman Neighborhood Though their numbers remain small, they still seem to have inordinate control of certain commodities and political powers. They claim that they have no particular clan head or chieftan, but it is well known that Sylvia Beth Panderlock is most often looked to as the steering senior member of the clan.

Breeding

One of the few families of its kind to engage in an actual eugenics program, the Carsokian Clan has very carefully, and quite successfully, chosen with whom to intermarry. They have strengthend stock that should have naturally died out many, many generations ago. They seem to be as tenacious as the wild fefferberry, which is their family crest.

Also, it may be inferred that their regular ingestion of both fefferberries and bofu weed out the weak and slow early on. You'll find no philology students, phonology professors, rhetoric scholars or whimsicists amongst this hardy stock! So, despite a number of social and societal issues which have kept their numbers smaller than one would expect, they are exceptionally long-lived. Often they are found in quite physically demanding professions, in which they remain active until late in life. In fact, they are more often found dead at their chosen trade than in bed.

Social Customs and Conventions

Conservative by nature, these closed-lipped families are often pillars of the community. Especially in repressive, "stiff-necked" neighborhoods. They can often be found at the head of angry mobs wielding torches and pitchforks. Almost to a member, they all belong to the Cranee Historical Society, though it's hard to tell why, since it has devolved into little more than a joke. Seriously, a historical society that is little more than a drinking and tree-toasting club club? Why bother? Unless, of course, it's really something more sinister...

Often, their familial conservatism goes beyond simple social or political reservation and expresses itself in a kind of tradition-bound pantomime of current fashion and culture. For example, the ridiculous adherence to the bofu consumption rituals attached to the betrothal march. No sane person would, of course, wish to excrete anything that glows no matter how usefull it may be for passing travelers lost in the dark. Still, the Carsokian Clans to a member adhere to this most ancient of customs. In fact, it is believed that this has contributed to their low birthrate and high instance of intermarriage with other, much less uptight, clans.

Infamous Members

Frustratingly, the Clan tracks "membership" via its maternal line, so that when they marry, Clan "membership" becomes quite a tricky bit indeed!

Some of the more infamous members include:

• Baron Claude Lloyd Albert Smallwood - The Baron Smallwood's mother, Aleksandra Mary Blackgold, who is descended from the rather more well known Mary Elizabeth Carsokian. He is a distant third cousin of Sylvia Beth Panderlock and was married off to Bavarian Creame in an attempt to enrich the Carsokian fortunes.

• Phennella - Of course, one of the best known members of the Cranee Historical Society must be a member of this influential clan. Unfortunately, no one has been able to determine her exact parentage and, as it is quite impolite to ask and she has not been forthcoming, we will simply lump her in via "guilt by association".

• Gabson Foye - Another fine, upstanding member of the Carsokian Clan, though a bit, well, slow. His mother, Adelaide Clementine Chimmlefut, who is the second cousin, twice-removed, of Sylvia Beth Panderlock, was initially quite pleased that he was to marry Bethany Mboya, but quite put out later when it was discovered that "she" was in fact Spearholder Jan ver Daath (Retired) of the Tarkherk Corps. Luckily, the clan's fortunes do not rest on their male line alone!

• Wilhelmina Corinne Bardway - The inventor of the ghoulwood viola and the supranatural luminescence meter. She spent an unfortunate portion of her life trying to explain the difference between supernatural and supranatural luminescence and not enough time puttering in her lab, according to her journals.

• Captain Riquiras - The Carsokian Clan claims the dread pirate as a member via his mother, Allison Clarinda Husslespear, who is the great, great, grandaunt of Aleksandra Mary Blackgold. But, this has been disputed since the Captain was off at sea most of his life and was not much of a record-keeper. Indeed, it has been often speculated that he didn't know his own mother at all.

• Corvin Axehand - The "hero" of the Battle of Barnum Stones is also claimed by the Carsokian Clan, though, few true scholars believe this possible. After all, that would mean that the movement of the Barnum Stones was all some kind of esoteric plot by the clan to somehow increase their status and wealth. Frankly, it doesn't seem possible that even they could be so subtle or sublime.

Citations: bofu, ghoulwood viola, supranatural luminescence meter